User Reviews by KVR Members for Zebra

I think everything has been said.This is just the best synth of all the time. Light for the CPU and powerful if you understand modular synth. I think it deserve a better GUI, but i can pass on that... you want powerfull synth ? it does it well ! An insane dark synth ? it does it well .

if you have the luck to have the DARK version...You don't need another synth.

It took me a while to appreciate Zebra 2. While it's sound engine still is awesome - a remarkable feat for a synth that was first released in 2007 -, its user interface appears (in 2016) to be somewhat dated. However, using the Massive Modular skin (sold from an independent developer), the GUI instantly goes into Serum territory, with the serious advantage that Zebra's skins are fully scalable, while Serum's GUI is on the (too) smaller side for my taste. My review below refers essentially to this Zebra 2 with improved skin.

Zebra's sound engine is extremely flexible with its semi-modular design. You have access to 4 wavetable oscillators and 4 FM oscillators, as well as 2 comb filters, 4 standard filters and 4 cross modulation filters. As each filter can self oscillate and the comb filters come with three waveforms, you have access to 18 (!) OSCs - per sound! Oscillators, filters and auxilliary sound design modules (including, for instance, ring modulation, frequency shifters, distortion) can be arranged in three lanes and connected. Oh, and then comes an feature rich effect section with its own main path and two sends/returns. You can control all this with with standard envelopes (that not only have four stages, but can also init, delay and are loopable) or go with drawable envelopes. Did I mention that each wavetable oscillators can load your own single cycle waveforms and comes with an incredible set of wave mangler effects on its own? Add a very cool sequencer/arpeggiator, thousands of really cool presets and... well, I will stop here. I should add that Zebra is by no means a resource hog, if you want you can use 20 instance of it or more on a fast computer. I sometimes apply Zebra as a luxury drum synth in Ableton drum racks, with 8 instances just for the drums.

In conclusion, this thing is a sound designers wet dream, if you can not get the sound you want from this, you probably have not tried enough. I would wish that Zebra 3 (annoinced in 2013!) would come this year, but Zebra 2.7 still holds its ground rather well in 2016, more than 10 years after Zebra 1's introduction.

Simply the best software synth; people lust after the DS prophet 12- this does more and sounds better. If your a present basher it has some of the best banks available (many free) as there is an active and friendly community. If you like to program sound it will make your ears smile.

10.00

Reviewed By lsc9x on 26th July 2013OS: Version: 10.8. Last edited by lsc9x on 26th July 2013.

10 of 11 people found this review helpful.
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ZEBRA2 FTW.

Zebra2 is an amazing synth, and it's exactly the way u-he describes it in the manual: A semi-modular synth that is as simple as you want it to be, or as complex as you need it to be. I would add: HUGELY flexible with TONS of features and parameters at your disposal, not the least of which are 4 32 point Multi-Segment Envelope Generators (say goodbye to "ADSR"!), a fantastic OSC creation section with no less than 4 user-CREATABLE wave tables, a full featured arpeggiator, scads of filter types between the VCF filters (like your typical analogue filter with about 10 times as many options) and the XMF filters, and numerous effects. not to mention that the entire synth is a giant cross modulation monster. Almost every parameter in Zebra2 is modulate-able by almost any other section of Zebra. I haven't even scratched the surface of the performance section of Zebra2 and I'm already in love with it.

I am not exaggerating when I say that there may be BILLIONS of possible sounds with Zebra2, at least from a math point of view. From a sound design stand point, Zebra2 is in a category (almost) all it's own (along with Reaktor being another, far more complicated, and less user friendly alternative, imo).

But the genius of Zebra2 is that it makes handling all of those possibilities straight forward, visual, and EASY to do.

Zebra2 can be as simple as creating 1 oscillator, throwing a filter on it and you're done. Heck, you don't even need the filter if you don't want it! On the other end of the spectrum, you have no less than 8 oscillators, (4 custom wavetable OSCs and 4 FM OCS) for sound generation that can be routed many different ways across 4 main buses, and routed into 3 effects buses (1 stereo and 2 auxiliary) in the effects section. That's not even touching all of the other modules you can throw on each of the 4 main busses.

Each section of Zebra2 is like a smorgasbord of possibilities. For example, in most other synths I have tried, if you create or use an oscillator, you often get a boring "tone" that you have to try and wrench into something a lot more interesting. In Zebra2, just playing with 1 oscillator gives you a fully creatable wave table with multiple modes of sound generation, plus you get two on board FX sections, just for the oscillator! You can either pick a wave-table, or DRAW your own! I can't stress the coolness of the multi-segment envelope generators enough! You can draw both the waveform of the sound AND of the filter (and dozens of other things as well).

What does all this mean? Well, for me it means that I can get some really interesting sounds within seconds of firing up Zebra2, and even making small changes in the parameters produce really good, clean, and usable sounds. It takes very little effort to get very good results. And, you are on complete control over the creative process because you aren't just trying to cram a sound through some pre-defined routing structure, you are creating the routing as you go.

You are going to find that your work flow keeps getting interrupted by "Oh my God that sound is awesome! I have to save that for later!" and as you get deeper into it and start playing with various parameters, your sound design goes in whole new directions at every corner. You may start off trying to create a pad, which quickly turns into a crazy bass or some screaming lead. Creatively, Zebra2 is just downright fun, and I can, and have, literally spent hours in it just saving one good sound after another like I did just last night. It might seriously interrupt your music making.

So, as a creative tool, it's second to none in my book. But it's also one of the "cleanest" sounding synths as well. Don't get me wrong, you can get some heavily effected sound coming out of Zebra2, but overall any sound that comes out of it is going to be clean and dry (if those are even the right words) meaning that you have a very NICE signal to work with if you want to throw any other effects on the sound. There aren't any wave-table "samples", the wave tables are made of actual waves generated in real time, which sounds just great.

The arpeggiator in Zebra2 is probably the best I have seen so far in a synth. It is also very flexible, allowing for gating (or note length) as well as other parameters that just don't exist in other synths, but to be honest I spend so much time now using MSEGS that I don't usually bother with the arpeggiator, but it's there in full force if you need it.

In addition to the tons of modulation options directly available on the main screen, there is another complete modulation section which not only allows for more modulation possibilities. You can actually modulate two modulations by another modulator in this section. You get all that? Basically means that you can sweep between two completely different types of modulation by using a 3rd modulation source for the "sweep". (Head explodes at this point).

In addition to all of the "static" features, which aren't really static at all, for live performance, you have 4, yes FOUR complete XY grids that you can assign to almost any parameter in Zebra2 that you would need to. I am not that good at playing keyboards, but if you are someone who IS good at playing a keyboard and using and/or using controllers, the amount of live expression you can get going is really incredible.

Did I mention that there are multiple skins available for Zebra2? And about 8 or 9 different "zoom levels" for viewing the Zebra2 user interface that means you can blow up Zebra2 on a 27" screen and create without straining your eyes to do it? Man is that cool! Most other synths I have to squint to see, but with Zebra2, I can kick back in my chair and just create.

Finally, and this is no small point, there are literally THOUSANDS of free presets you can download for Zebra2 as soon as you get it. You will probably spend a lot of time just listening to the possibilities before getting your hands dirty. I would highly recommend downloading the factory sound banks from versions of Zebra2 prior to version 2.6, but there are some awesome sounds there.

Now, having said all of that, there are hundreds of other features in Zebra2, that I just don't have time to detail in this article, but I'll just give you my bottom line:

If you want a very powerful, easy to learn and use, great sounding synth, that lets your creative sound design juices flow like "the force" flows from a Jedi Master, Zebra2 is an absolute MUST HAVE synth.

Or, if someone told me I could only have 1 synth to work with for the rest of my life, I'd be happy working in Zebra2. (In fact, I kind of want to do an entire song in Zebra2, using it for everything from the percussion, to the pads, leads and basses just to see what it would sound like. Awesome, I am sure.).

If you are even thinking about picking up a copy of Zebra2, it's the right decision. Period.

13 of 14 people found this review helpful.
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I bought Zebra to replace some old favorites that were becoming expensive to maintain -- an Oberheim Xpander, Korg/MonoPoly and Roland MKS 80. After trying demos of several software synths including SynthMaster and Electrax I chose Zebra for it's combination of great sound (the presets are interesting and show off it's capabilities but are generally over-effected), the impressive modulation potential, and clever interface.

Zebra2 is semi-modular which means that sounds are made by creating relationships between all sorts of modules -- morphing wavetable oscillators, FM Oscillators, self-modulating resonant filters, comb filters and some others. There are modulators including traditional envelopes (with some extra twists), LFO's, and incredible multi-stage envelops. There are also modulation modifiers, an arpegiattor, step sequencer, arp modulation and a robust effects section.

The brilliant aspect of the interface is two-fold. First, the center section of the screen contains a grid showing the entire signal path, provides an easy way to turn modules off and on and allows you to quickly and easily setup the equivalent of layering in other synths. In a quick glance you can see the full structure of extremely complex sounds. Second, only modules in use are displayed. If you are using only one oscillator, an envelope and an LFO, that's all you see. Add a VCF and it appears on the screen -- turn it off and it disappears. As you build a sound from simple to complex and add modules your screen goes from empty to full, which is very, very intuitive.

From day one I have loved this synth. I've been programming patches and designing sound for more than 25 years (pre-midi days) and this software has the potential to go as deep as any sound designer could want.

I would not recommend this for someone new to synthesis and sound design -- it can probably overwhelming, but if you are experienced with different synth techniques, it's a joy to usel It took a little while to get used to how powerful just a delicate touch on some controls (especially the spectral effects) can be, but after only a couple of months of practice and experimentation I'm finding it very, very easy to come up with very useable, fantastically different sounding patches very quickly. Once you get a handle on some favorite wave tables making great, useable sound is FAST and intuitive.

For me, the biggest downside of this synth is that it's easy to get so involved in the fun of experimenting with sound that you lose time getting work done.

I'm finding it to be very easy to mentally envision a sound and then execute, which is pretty much everything that a sound designer can ask for.

The support community is fantastic -- the online tutorials are nicely done and demonstrate useful programming tips.

My wish list for the next version -- an easy facility to copy and past modules in the grid with duplicate parameters. A warmer analog filter mode.

I highly recommend this for experienced synth programmers who are making the switch form hardware to software.

10.00

Reviewed By timaeus222 on 3rd December 2012OS: Version: 1.0.5. Last edited by timaeus222 on 13th December 2012.

10 of 13 people found this review helpful.
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Zebra... This is an extremely unique product that far surpasses any other u-he product, as well as most other synthesizer plugins. Its versatility and usability are impeccable.

I never find myself truly lost in what I do in Zebra, and I've been able to create some creative and amazing sounds! There's such a wide amount of sounds anyone can create with Zebra. Synth Leads, FM Basses, Resonant sweeps, and even some organic stuff, like Brass, Strings, Weather effects, Keys (Rhodes, EPs, etc.), Organs, etc. Your limitation is your experience.

Let me analyze this plugin in more detail.

QUALITY:

The sound is pristine quality. I've managed to find and create sounds that need 224kbps and above to sound like it should. ;)

GRAPHICS:

Customizable skin. It comes with the default and Unempty Dark Horse. Dark Horse is a neat skin, and if I had used that more, I would keep using it. The reason I emphasized that is because the two skins have different colors AND structure. Alas, I got used to the default skin, so I'm more comfortable making patches on that. My advice is to pick one you like best first, and then use that from that point on. ;) And of course, people make skins for that, so check that out at: http://www.u-he.com/PatchLib/skins.html

SOUNDS:

The default patches that come with Zebra are enough to write a few full songs with literally all Zebra instances. But what if you want more? Over 45 FREE soundbanks have already been published to KVRAudio's Zebra Patch Bank page, and 125 FREE soundbanks at the Zebra patch library page! Want to know how inspiring Zebra is? There's your evidence.

SYNTHESIS/SOUND DESIGN:

From what I've managed to do in Zebra, it's capable of FM, RM, Modular, Additive, and Subtractive Synthesis; PWM, Sync Mod, and Waveshaping; and many others. There's nothing more I'd want from Zebra than what it already has.

MEMORY:

It's about 11 MB on the physical memory on the initialized patch, and it can get higher depending on what patch you use or make. AFAIK, most patches usually reach about 11~30 MB physical memory, which really isn't that much at all.

EASE-OF-USE:

What I love most about it is that it only shows what you are using, nothing more and nothing less. That way even the least advanced person can know that what he's looking at is what he needs to edit to have a noticeable change. I seriously believe the GUI is unmatched. It's probably because Zebra gets so much respect. ;)

POSSIBILITIES:

It initializes with a raw, monophonic saw wave as one oscillator and one envelope. From there, you can do many things:

- Add an FM oscillator module and feed the VCO through the FMO to get a classic FM sound. Maybe you can add an envelope with no attack, little decay, no sustain, and default (15%) release (that gives you a rhodes-like keypressing sound). Maybe you can raise the pitch and modify Envelope 1 to have no attack, little decay, no sustain, and a long release (that gives a plucked sine wave).

first, a disclaimer: i've reviewed 3 other synths here in the last few days, almost all "10"s. i mean, i OWN these plugins, and live (or die) by them, so am writing what i feel, but...i REALLY love what i use; that's WHY i own what i own. so "10" is the right number for zebra.

i've been using it for a couple of years now; added it when a friend showed it to me; i was immediately impressed with the sound.

i haven't been using it so much lately, but yesterday spent the day REALLY exploring it, and…was reminded of how good zebra really is.

the architecture is logical, intuitive. the GUI is great. there are also a lot of soundbanks for zebra (i own quite a few).

the sound is the thing, of course, and it's awesome. zebra is more metallic, rounder-sounding than my other plugins (which i value for their buzzier 'analog' sound). so, zebra is great for animated pads, hard or melodic leads; exceptional soundscapes. i made 2 tracks with only this plugin (and drums) and it's great. there is a lot of color and depth in the sound (some plugins sound very flat, very 'grey' to me).

presets can be busy, dense (they can have several things going on at once, i.e. a drone, chimes, an evolving filter). so it takes a…different approach to layer parts; 3 busy parts together can be like 9 parts on a simpler synth.

i find this makes me think differently about what i'm doing; that's a good thing, i don't want to always work the same way.

the bottom line for me is this: nothing else i have sounds like it, and that's what i want from a plugin, for it to justify it's place in my arsenal: to be distinctive.

u-he has some amazing synths (diva is ridiculous), but this one is my fave (probably because my other 3 synths are all 'analog'-inspired). zebra is just different, musical, and very modern.

i've sold several plugins recently on kvraudio; i wanted to 'change my game up', challenge my workflow. this one you'll have to pry from my cold dead hands...

10.00

Reviewed By proletkult on 16th December 2011OS: Version: XP SP3. Last edited by proletkult on 18th December 2011.

I have never written nor cared to write a review about a synth before. Partly because my relationship with them was simply "find a preset that's close and (perhaps) tweak it". After ten days with Zebra two I am completely obsessed with oscillators, X/Y pads, comb filters, VCFs and so, so much more. The online library of thousands of presets that have built up over a short space of time is a clear indication of how inspiring the instrument is to players of all standards.

Brightness, depth and clarity of sound were the first things that struck me as better than any other synth in my arsenal. Following that, the range of sounds prompted me to retire several synths in that arsenal straight away.

This flexibility is down to a confounding number of ways to generate and manipulate countless wave forms. The multi stage envelope generator and user definable LFOs can set the sound moving both rhythmically and organically long before engaging the arpeggiator/sequencer and oscillators have their own effects long before reaching the very well equiped effects stage.

The UI is stunning, never leaving you confused with aspects you don't need and keeping everything you do need nearby. It's hard not to marvel at the programme's architecture. It even allows you several versions so you can change the size of the image.

So inspiring is the whole experience of discovering Zebra2 that the manual(which has been critised by some) works, quite rightly, more as a great reference point as you venture through this sonic jungle(Zebra - get it?)

I have set up five or six instances of Zebra 2, armed them all with their more CPU demanding presets and played concurrently. Inside Cubase (XP-32bit, i7chip, 3 gig of RAM) the strain was VERY MINIMAL(APPROX 6%)!

The rules for reviewing here say; "Review the product on what it is supposed to be able to do and not on what you would like it to do." That's easy here as Zebra 2's potential completely outstrips my mere-mortal imagination. But with each day my imagination is pushed much further. THOROUGHLY RECOMMENDED.

18 of 19 people found this review helpful.
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Combine the best audio engine ever with the simplest and coolest GUI ever and you have Zebra 2.5, the shortest way to get from ideas to sounds, whilst absorbing fresh inspiration along the way.

The big eye opener for me is the oscillator section, which comprises four morphing wavetable oscillators with unison, phase, synch, drawable waveforms, additive synthesis, and the ability to use one or two of dozens of 'oscillator FX' which do things like filter odd or even harmonics, mess with the waveform geometry, do spectral filtering (either with a break-point, or noise-reduction 'aphex twin' style burbles), PWM, fractal synch, phase distortion... the possibilities are not only mind boggling but also easy to use and explore.

Add this into a modular environment with the most amazing sounding filters, waveshapers, FM oscs, studio effects, resonators, etc... many types of customizable envelopes, and an easy and uncluttered interface to string it all together, any you have not merely a synthesizer but an instrument which is as fun and inspiring as it is powerful. As someone who is interested in exploring sound for it's own sake, Zebra is like a laboratory where you can conduct experiments in sound and push your understanding forwards. It's just plain addictive.

Half of this addictiveness is undoubtably because of the UI which is a stroke of genius, but the other half is because of the consistently amazing sound quality. While many synths sound strained at the extremes of sound design or when pushes, Zebra has a fat and confident sound throughout, which means making it sound BAD is the challenge :). Zebra produces the sort of sounds you'd expect from a huge wall of modular analogue gear costing thousands of pounds, and in some cases goes even weirder and more liquid.

Looking at the price, this is worth more than the asking price alone, but given that you also get Zebralette (a mini-zebra with just oscillators), Zebrify (the built in modular effects section of zebra as a stand-alone effect) AND Z-rev (the unusual and mysterious reverberation doohickey with lots of strange knobs and no instructions, which makes a wide variety of really nice sounding reverbs, from realistic to platey to downright odd!)... buying this was a no-brainer.

This is quite possibly the one synthesizer to eclipse them all. People have been making sounds on this ranging from highly realistic imitations of accoustic instruments, to undeard of synth sounds at the cutting edge of cutting-edgeness. Examining the oscillator output spectrally and via my ears leads me to believe this thing NEVER aliases unless you explicitly tell it to. I may be proven wrong about that one day, but I'd be suprised. This is in part what contributes to the 'analogue-like sound' of Zebra.

10.00

Reviewed By FarleyCZ on 8th April 2010OS: Version: 2.5. Last edited by FarleyCZ on 8th April 2010.

Seriously this one is completely beast. Buy it and you wont need any other synth at all.

Usually there are on the makret synths with sweet sound, but very focused ... or huge modular synths which sounds crappy. ... Not this one. Zebra sounds amazing! Just amazing! Huge possibilites with #1 class sound. Even Hans Zimmer used one i think. That's speaks about quality.

Potential is huge! It's modular. You can place any modul anywhere. There are modules for everything. Single OSCs, FM OSCs, even Karplus-Strong based Combinator for damped feedback emulating of vibrating string etc... (My favourite these days.) Everything!

Really great are OSCs. You can apply effect to it. But not just that. You can draw your own waveform by mouse, you can even draw single harmonics to model an actual sound of it! IT'S DAMN CRAZY!!! And it can even morph between all these drawed sounds. That's just unbelieviable!!!!

Only little problem-ish thing is a CPU. Zebra eats a lot. :-D ...when you use a lot of modules.

Customer support? I have mine from second hand. Urs (author) is the best in this. You can write him with any problem even before bouht and he helps you. He is one of the kindest guy on the internet (and one of best programmers too of course :-)) I felt like I could write him about falin' in love with some girl and he'd help me. He's the best. :-)

If you are thinking: Should I buy it? $200 is not a small amount of money. It's kind of SEMImodular. I don't know. ... then BUY it. Do not wait a second! You will not regret, I swear you!

As for Zebra, this is a semi-modular synthesizer with a unique grid that makes routing and keeping track of your modules very easy indeed! No messy, animated cables to get in the way. This is a very modern, futuristic take on synthesis--it's its own beast, not emulating anything, a truly novel instrument.

If you're a preset-maven, go elsewhere. Nothing to see here. Not to say some of the presets aren't very good; they are. But, buying this synth for the presets is like buying a Ferrari for the cup holders.

This is a programmers dream--once you LEARN it, it's freakin' DANGEROUS! The comb filters and oscillators alone are just so amazingly powerful, I really don't know where to start. There's just too much to talk about, far more than would fit here. From the oscillator effects (that's right: you can add preset effects to the oscillators themselves, and with unreal results), to the brilliant, brash, and fantastic-sounding comb filters, you'll be in synth heaven for days, nay, months, before you even get a handle on what this thing can really do! And don't even get me started on the filters--Urs Heckmann is a genius. This much is totally obvious.

Let me put it to you straight: you're much, MUCH better off having a lone ACTUAL GENIUS devoloping your soft synths than a whole army of 9-to-5ers who must all coordinate with one another and STILL can't get it quite right.

But, with this one you've REALLY got to get your hands dirty... putzing around with a few presets here and there will tell you NOTHING. Nada. If you buy this synth to fiddle with some presets, I feel bad for you, I really do! Just bite the bullet and RTFM: it's online, it's easy, it makes sense. You'll thank yourself a thousand times over once you get how easy and powerful this thing is.

10.00

Reviewed By VitaminD on 27th June 2007OS: Version: 2.5. Last edited by VitaminD on 23rd May 2011.

If I, for some odd reason, was stuck on an island with nothing to do but eat fruit and write music and then ONLY could pick one synth to use.. Zebra2 would be my pick.

The capabilities of this synth are rather incredible to me.. It has a very full sound naturally, but has the ability to sound thin and digital or even harsh if so desired. There are so many features packed into Zebra2.5 that I'm unsure I'll ever need any other synth. ever.

Stability has been good in my host of choice (Orion Platinum) and cpu usage is acceptable for me (aging Athlon x2 5600+ [2.8ghz])

Zebra2 can be a very complex synth if you want it to be.. at the same time, I've made several stunning sounds through much less complex patches. And the amount of presets that are available for Zebra2 means even if you aren't looking to be a synth sound designer/programmer, you will still have no trouble pulling out tons of fantastic, usable sounds.

If you want it to be complex, you can have your way. With the ability to load 3rd party Oscillator waveforms, means Zebra2 never gets stale. As of version 2.5 we now have the 11 voice mode for each oscillator and some great filters. The Envelope Generators are super powerful and the effects are solid.

In short, Zebra2 is one of the few software synthesizers I feel is actually worth it's asking price. Value for Money is extremely high -- The abilities are so large in Zebra2, I'll probably never dig to the bottom of the sound palette. And, compared to some of the other larger hardware synths, this one is rather easy to program too.

10.00

Reviewed By JacK_SoliuM on 20th March 2007OS: Version: 2.1. Last edited by JacK_SoliuM on 20th March 2007.

FEATURES :the best thing of this synth are the X Y controllers (crazy realtime modulation , very useful in live)but it had a lot of different great features like : Arp , modmatrix , and many others...

DOCS :no problem , it's clear and very full ( but Zebra is so easy to understand that you dont need docs!!)

PRESETS : there are a lot of presets , but they aren't all excellent ( some are really great ,some aren't ) .but the most important thing is that you can do everything with this synth so you can create your owns presets very easily !!

SUPPORT :go in "u-he" forum at KVR for support, Urs is always ready to explain something if you need help or if you have a problem !

STABILITY :no problem in my host (FLstudio) ,

and value for money is excellent !!!!

Zebra is really an awesome synth, very easy and with a perfect sound !!!

Zebra is one of the reasons I love making music on computers! It is a pleasure to use...while looking kinda familiar to "classic" synths in some ways, it also has its unique way of luring you into unsuspected territories..all of them interesting.Interface: The only reason stopping me from giving a 10 here is that there are a couple of areas (notably the matrix) which are a bit hard to grasp without the manual ( but this is such a novel concept anyways, I don't see any way of making it graphically more immediate). Also minus one, possibly, because although there is a choice of "skins" available, I find they all slightly lack a bit of definition/contrast in the choice of colours. At least a real zebra is black 'n' white, not beige 'n' darker beige! :-)Sound: O.K let's just borrow the available 10th position from the Interface rating, just so that I can give Sound an eleven! It may be a zebra, but it ate a Maserati for breakfast! For versatility, this is pretty close to the Virsyn Tera (and that is a compliment!).Features: surprise after surprise after surprise! The matrix, the X-Y controllers, the multistage modulations..etc, etc.Documentation: dropped one point for being late to the party with the doc for v1.5 ( if I get the chance to do so, I will update this when the 1.5 doc arrives:-)Presets: Do these inspire you to go on and make more of your own, or is there no need to do so?Customer support: Urs = President of the Universe!VFM: Can't say all that about Zebra, then complain about having to get my wallet out! I've seen (and have bought!) instruments at twice the price, which offer far less.Stability: Rock solid, of course. But more than that, because we are lucky enough to have Urs frequently in this, and other, forums, we can see the extent to which this guy really knows his stuff!I'm also using the ZebraShell VST beta in Cubase SX without problems so far.I'm looking forward to reading PC users' comments in the (hopefully) near future:-)

Having used Zebra from its first beta, I have to say the latest 1.5 version is a significant enhancement from the previous version, and well worth the price.

The addition of the new modulation routing alone has me in fits (the good kind :). But it doesn't stop there. It brings a deeply expanded flexibility of programming throughout, with added features laid out in 'tabs", which bring the new controls into play without making it any harder to use. That's quite a feat, from a UI point of view.

I usually find programming patches a rather tedious process, but I enjoy -- actually, get kind of enthusiastic -- tweaking sounds in Zebra. The way the controls are laid out just make a solid, intuitive sense, and is quite simply a fun process. You can easily jump from "planned, fundamental sound creation" to "wild, experimental, surprising results", which happens often, as the nature of this beast is playful (and even mischievous sometimes).

Ultimately though, it's about the sound, and the Zebra has few equals in the soft-synth realm. I own a few dozen synths (soft mostly, but a few old-skool hardware synths as well), and I reach for Zebra more often than any other... and that's including all the fab eMagic plugs built-in to Logic Pro.

It can be subtle or extreme, smooth or harsh, and is capable of being incredibly variable. I like it most of all for "morphing" type patches, and use the XY controls extensively (you've got to try those to "get it"). I've discovered sounds -- and performances -- I simply cannot duplicate on any other synth. Not simple nuances in the timbral differences, but broad, rich, unique sounds that no other synth seems quite capable of.

It also has no issues at all with stability in Logic Pro. It's rock solid and dependable. I would happily use it in a live situation.

Other comments:The presets are plentiful (I contributed a *very* few to the massive 500 included), and most are quite useable. Urs' support is direct, responsive, and amazingly friendly... you won't find better!

The only downside for some might be that the docs for 1.5 are still at v1.0. The 1.0 manual covers all the basics though, and as I find it easy enough to use the Zebra without them, it isn't really an issue for me. I give it a 9 *in principal* in the docs rating, but as they are written so well and clearly, I give that a 10 in reality anyway... :)

In short, if you use AU at all on your OSX Mac, this one is a must-have...

peace,tribalogical

10.00

Reviewed By wonshu on 20th February 2004OS: Version: 1. Last edited by wonshu on 20th February 2004.

Glad you agree Farley. Should have added that there is a very clever promotion going on... after taking a photograph of what ever analogue synth you are retiring because of Zebra and sending it in - you get a $50 discount!! Good for your pocket and their ego!!

"So inspiring is the whole experience of discovering Zebra2 that the manual (which has been critised by some) works, quite rightly, more as a great reference point as you venture through this sonic jungle".

Ha! I reviewed Zebra in 2007 and criticised the documentation as well as the presets. Since then the manual has been completely rewritten, and the presets have been retired/replaced... ;-)

I'll be honest with you, Howard. I'd tried Zebra 1 and found it fun but no replacement for other synths I had. The development since then has been on a scale you'd expect from a big set up like Spectrasonics. Fantastic acheivement.

i just bought zebra today, because i like some of its sounds, but i agree, many sounds are over-effected. When turning the wet knob down, the sound is not really good anymore. In my opinion, the reason is first of all the looppoint of the waveforms. Especially with Pad Sounds, you can hear the loop of the used sample, the higher note is looping faster than the lower, resulting in an unsteady, not smooth sound. But this i heard nearly with every Softsynth. But i heard a few sounds, where this is not so obvious. So i hope, it is possible, to create really smooth pad sounds.

Is there a tutorial online "How to make Sounds with Zebra"? The userguide is not sufficient for me: The interface is really overwhelming.

@Babyblue: There are no samples in Zebra2, and therefore no looping or loop points.

BTW Zebra2 Tutorials are here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8B3F7A60F7C76BA ... but I would recommend that you study the manual in more depth first - start at the beginning, read very carefully, understand.

I agree with Howard completely. Read the manual carefully, tweak the various parameters to understand what they do, and turn modules off and on to hear the results. You might also want to research some basics of different types of synthesis so you can really understand. I also recommend that as you go thru the presets you focus on the simpler structures so it is easier to understand what is going on.

And watch every single one of the tutorials! More than once....

You may have to dig around a little to find the waves that "speak" to you -- and remember, each wave has 16 possible iterations, some of which are completely different as you cycle through them.

Zebra is a beast for sound design, it's worth the time to learn how to use it.

thanks Howard and ontrackp for your constructive words! I will do my best and dive into the secrets of zebra. When you say there are no samples used as groundstructeres for tweaking them with the different oscs, LFOs, envs etc., i must believe you. I came to that conviction, when i played a (one) note, i heard a repeating cycle, playing this note lets say 3 notes lower, i hear this repeating cycle too, but this cycle lasts a bit longer, resulting in an unsteady, not smooth sound, when playing both notes together.

But as i said, i try my best, to achieve what i am looking for. Thanks again for your advice and the link.

The cycle speed of a LFO or MSEG can be modulated by key follow (or by specific notes for that matter) so the speed can change as you go up or down the keyboard. My advice is to deconstruct the patches. Go thru module by module and double click on modulation controls, zero out modulation amounts in the matrix and you'll start seeing how the modulators can affect cycling of filter cutoff, pitch, etc....

Just search on youtube for the tutorials, they come up all over the place.

Disappointed in the Zebra2 demo. The synth seems good but it's hard to tell because as soon as I start tweaking it starts dropping out. First time I tried it was just the static which is annoying but not too bad. But now I have to keep reloading a new instrument track to get it to even play more than one note. Evidently I am in the minority here, because I do not find anyone else posting similar. But had to be honest...it's hard to evaluate it when I can't really use it for even 15 minutes. If I have to use presets, and cannot create big sounds with it, then it's not going to be as useful to me. Would rather have a time limited demo...even one day would be better than this. Not meaning to be disrespectful or overly bitchy because obviously a lot of work went into it and I respect that. But that does not automatically mean it will be good for me personally.

Having got that out of my system, it seems to work in Studio One 2 so I'll probably buy it based on the stellar reviews of most everyone.

@bksherwood: Zebra2's demo restriction is quasi-random notes (not "static"), so I'm wondering what happened there. Anyway, 15 minutes per session should be plenty of time to find out whether a product suits you. You just have to bite the bullet and reload, or purchase a license.

@Howard: Then it sounds like what I was experiencing were not the demo limitations. I did purchase Zebra2 last night and I am VERY happy with it. Was able to take what I know and create some pretty awesome initial sounds. So far none of the notes dropping out or static etc. After working with it last night, I think Zebra2 is going to be like moving from a Model T to a rocket ship; it will drastically accelerate my progress and capabilities.

But I must say...wow! I never expected a response from you directly. I see that as a huge value of owning Zebra2. The community of Zebra2 is something you can't really put a price on, especially as someone who wants to excel at this stuff. Thank you very much for taking the time to respond.

Well, you absolutely made the right decision then. You've just ensured yourself a long winter with a fat grin. Not only do you have a deep synthesizer in your possession, you have a deep and active Zebra user community and lots of freely available and commercial patch banks at your fingertips (Check the official KVR U-he forums). Check out U-he's YouTube profile while you're at it. There are tonnes of excellent official pointer videos for consumption. Enjoy your striped synth-beast.

Thanks snigelx. Spot one with the fat grin! Honestly, I am not sure I will need another synth for a long, long time...except Dark Zebra...that I am definitely buying. My interest is primarily big, unique orchestral sounds and DZ surely fits the bill.

So far I have reviewed the manual, downloaded the free patches from http://www.u-he.com/PatchLib/zebra.html, started on the Youtube tutorials which are awesome, and started to decompose some awesome HS patches. I see also some of the patches from the community are designed to teach you things like FM. Very cool.

Thanks for the lead on the KVR U-he forums. Just starting to realize how much is here on KVR. Been missing out for sure.

Great that you feel the need to review such a wonderful sound design tool, but I own the Prophet you speak of (why you compare software to this I have no idea) and no Zebra does not sound better. It is rather apples and oranges you attempt to compare my friend (which was not much of a comparison and much less a review). Of course Zebra has features more routing options because it is a piece of software relying on the computational power of the computer system that hosts it and a developer can add tonnes of bells and whistles into the software. For being a hardware unit the Prophet 12 is an amazing piece of gear capable of many a timbre, but the sound is VERY different between the two synths you mention in your blurb. Furthermore, a synth's sound will most usually reflect the level of skill and creativity possessed by its programmer and much less often the deficiencies of the synthesizer. Please, if you should write a -review- people then take the time to discuss the finer points. If you just wish to post that you like a synth then do that on the forum. Cheers.

The sounds that Zebra produces is just incredible!!!! I cant imagine what Zebra3 will sound like......It will be tough for anybody to top this synth in my opinion. Possibilities are endless with this synth. I LOVE YOUR WORK URS!!!!!.